Mobile communications have been rapidly expanding and is increasingly becoming a staple commodity in conducting financial transactions. As used herein, mobile communications devices include such electronic devices as the personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellular, mobile, and satellite telephones (collectively referred to as cell phones), portable computers also referred to as tablets, and other similar devices that are known or will be become available, and that allow remote access to financial and other accounts, without necessarily tying down the users to their desktop computers or to a specific locale.
These mobile communication devices are progressively transforming our societies, worldwide, into mobile societies. In these mobile societies, consumers tend to carry, on their persons, a variety of personal effects, such as wallets, purses, checkbooks, keys, and mobile communications devices. These personal effects tend to clutter the consumers and hamper their mobility.
As a result, there have been concerted efforts and proposed solutions to minimize alleviate the consumers from redundant clutters so as to facilitate their mobility. Two such exemplary conventional solutions are generally described in U.S. patent application Nos. 20090068982 and 20080010191.
U.S. patent application No. 20090068982, to Chen et al., generally describes a system or a method that aim at facilitating the securing of a wireless digital transaction. A terminal component receives payment data for goods or services. A mobile device includes a mobile payment card (m-card) that is created by establishing a link to an account associated with a form of currency. The mobile device employs public-key cryptography (PKC) to securely and wirelessly transmit the payment to the terminal component utilizing the m-card and linked account.
U.S. patent application No. 20080010191 to Rackley III et al., generally describes methods and systems for providing a financial payment to a payee (or recipient) utilizing a mobile device or a wireless connected personal digital assistant (PDA). The user inputs information into the mobile device identifying a payee, a payment source for the payment, and a payment method. The mobile device generates a mobile payment instruction comprising information corresponding to the identified payee, the payment source, and the payment method, and wirelessly communicates the mobile payment instruction to a mobile financial transaction system (MFTS). The MFTS generates an MFTS payment instruction to a payment instruction recipient. The MFTS payment instruction includes information identifying the payment source, an amount, information corresponding to the identified payee, and information indicating the payment method. The MFTS communicates the MFTS payment instruction to a payment instruction recipient. In response to receipt of the MFTS payment instruction, the payment instruction recipient effects a payment to the identified payee without any required action by the payee.
While the solutions that are proposed in the foregoing two patent applications address electronic payments, they do not dispense with the use of cash. Although these solutions profess to describe cashless transactions, they still require the consumers to carry cash in order to complete a cash transaction.
Cash has developed along with the human evolutions. The oldest coins are assumed to be the Aegina Chelone coins that were minted circa 700-550 BC, either by the local Aegina people or by Pheidon king of Argos (who first set the standards of weights and measures). The Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris contains a unique electrum stater of Aegina. This coin is dated to 700 BC.
The Ancient Levantines on the Eastern Mediterranean spread the practice to Greek Anatolia and extended it to commerce and trade. Coinage followed Greek colonization and influence first around the Mediterranean and shortly thereafter to North Africa and the Balkans.
Money in the form of ingots, rings, coils, and other pieces of precious-metal bullion, such as silver, emerged as civilization with the emergence of the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations, although these semi-coins had no mark of authority. Some adhered to a weight standard and had a fixed exchange value, while other did not.
Precious and semi-precious metals were made into coins and used to negotiate and settle trades. On the other hand, banknotes offer an alternative bearer form of money. The advantages and disadvantages of these two forms of bearer money vary with the circumstances of use.
Paper money, cash, or banknote was first developed in China during the Tang and Song dynasties, starting in the 7th century. Its roots were in merchant receipts of deposit during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), as merchants and wholesalers desired to avoid the heavy bulk of copper coinage in large commercial transactions. During the Yuan Dynasty, banknotes were adopted by the Mongol Empire. In Europe, the concept of banknotes was first introduced during the 14th century.
Currently, various unseen costs are associated with the use of bearer money, as follows:
1. Manufacturing or issue costs. Coins are produced by industrial manufacturing methods that process the precious or semi-precious metals, and require additions of alloy for hardness and wear resistance. By contrast, bank notes are printed paper (or polymer), and typically have a lower cost of issue, especially in larger denominations, compared to coin of the same value.
2. Wear costs. Banknotes do not lose economic value by wear, since, even if they are in poor condition, they are still a legally valid claim on the issuing bank. However, banks of issue have to pay the cost of replacing banknotes in poor condition, as paper notes wear out much faster than coins.
3. Cost of transport. Coins can be expensive to transport for high value transactions, but banknotes can be issued in large denominations that are lighter than the equivalent value in coins.
4. Cost of acceptance. Coins can be checked for authenticity by weighing and other forms of examination and testing. These costs can be significant, but good quality coin design and manufacturing can help reduce these costs. Banknotes also have an acceptance cost, the costs of checking the banknote's security features and confirming acceptability of the issuing bank.
5. Security. Counterfeiting paper notes seems to be relatively easier than forging coins, especially because of the proliferation of color photocopiers and computer image scanners. Numerous banks and nations have incorporated many types of countermeasures in order to insure the security of their paper notes.
However, while the digitization of credit and debit transactions is increasingly expanding by means of computerization and networking, cash remains one of the last hurdles toward full conversion to a true electronic wallet that replaces the actual wallet. As of the present time, there is no alternative to retaining at least some cash or coins in one's wallet, particularly in certain societies that prefer cash over credit or check transactions.
In addition, while most, if not all the current ATM machines accept check and cash transactions, including the dispensation of cash, to the corresponding bank customers, they do not necessarily accept cash or check transactions from non-customers and particularly from individuals who are non-bank account holders. These individuals might thus be left with less than optimal or convenient options, including the option to cash the checks at designated institutions.
Wherefore, there still remains an unsatisfied need for a new system, method, and associated service (“system”) that enable the consumers to transfer, receive, or otherwise exchange cash amongst themselves and the merchants. This system is further usable to facilitate transactions using various international denominations and commodities, such as precious metals (e.g., gold, silver, etc.), in a mobile telecommunications environment. This system should be capable of saving rebate or discount coupons and receipts, while keeping track of points that accumulate for future use or redemption. The system should also enable the use of ATM's for accepting check and cash transactions from customers, non-customers, and non-bank account holders.